~ Thoughts on Freedom and The West

Tag Archives: socialism

This Gorrel cartoon gets it right, about the Dems in 2020 and about the timing of socialism. The more “successful” commie-lite programs (e.g. Sweden) were implemented during times of existing economic success, tomes when there was money to fritter. America doesn’t have that. Our current condition is of a restorative mode and, sadly, most of it is simply over-papering with fake money.

All three reasons are legitimate, though not as significant as two additional reasons. The first is that there are now tens of millions of US citizens from nations with strong socialist traditions. For example, two of the three major Mexican parties are members of the Socialist International.

The second is that the media is dominated by individuals whose politics range the gamut from Marxian to Trotksyite.

Joel Mathis offers up a simplistic editorial in The Week with three reasons why socialism is rising (again) in Amerika. A quick look at them:

1. Leaders are paving the way for a second massive economic crisis within a generation.

This is correct. He even starts with the Federal Reserve. These “leaders” aren’t just paving the way, they’re rocketing us along at Bugatti speeds.

2. It is becoming more and more difficult for the average American to live life sustainably.

Here, he begins to drift. We do not have capitalism in Amerika. We have financialized corporatism. This second point, on the surface, is true. But, it’s the result of 100+ years of interference, not from capitalists, but from the government and the banksters. He leaves off the bulk of the losses, focusing of buzz issues (and without delving too deeply into those).

3. The party of capitalism put Donald Trump in the White House.

In the end, Mathis goes off the AOC end. We have no such party in this nation-shaped place.

He ends on a decent note: “Frustrated Americans everywhere are looking for an alternative to the fading status quo.”

And, on that note, I’ll add three more reasons:

Americans are getting dumber. With an average IQ somewhere between 9o and 95, they literally can’t understand what has happened to them. Ergo, the desperate reach for any other solution. There’s also the dismal education of those already lacking normal intelligence.

Things, on paper and just for now, are better than they have been in a while. Maybe for just a tiny bit longer, we’ll have some hollow prosperity floating around. When some people have a little money, other people feel the desire to spend it on yet more people. When – Mathis is right – things really go south, the peeps will keep clamoring for freebies.

The people behind the system keep pushing socialism. The falsely exclusive “either capitalism or socialism” is part of the plan. Particular economic (and political) systems are really irrelevant; the masters just pick one or two and run. The ultimate goal is omnipresent Satanic globalism.

The more things change … the more they make one want to run off screaming into the mountains and never return. And they stay the same. But, worse maybe – worse because of all the ignored history and experience.

We’re told that socialism is coming to America. (It’s been lurking here to some time but whatever). For example, they’re pushing Bernie-Care. It’s not just the junior senator from Vermont with the whacky hair and the whackier ideas. Elizabeth Warren, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, [__Insert Democrat Name Here__] – they’re all abuzz about socialized medicine. This is to be something beyond the [Un]Affordable [No]Care Act; it’s intended as true Soviet Semashka British NHS-style, single-payer, socialized, communized “care.” Said care would likely consist of living in a box, paying exorbitant taxes, while some administrative flunky tells you that your emergency surgery has been postponed again and your doctor has defected to Mexico. But, anyway…

This was SOP in the Soviet Union and anywhere communists come to power. While the people of Venezuela starve and eat their pets the well do to and the politically connected dine on lobster and fly private. The people begin to notice.

CARACAS, June 2 (Reuters) – One is shown blowing a kiss from a private jet. Another is seen posing in front of a store of luxury jeweler Cartier in China. Others grin as they tuck into a plate of lobster or a massive birthday cake.

Venezuelan activists are increasingly posting details of locations and lifestyles of leftist officials and their families, depicting them as thriving off corruption while the population struggles to eat in a devastating economic crisis.

The social media blitzes, targeting officials and their business partners, relatives and even lovers, are another weapon in a wave of huge protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s government that began in April. Protesters are seeking early presidential elections, freedom for jailed activists, and humanitarian aid to alleviate chronic food and medicine shortages.

One Twitter account published photos purportedly showing the wife of Vice President Tareck El Aissami enjoying champagne and lounging on a pristine beach with her sisters. In another case, an alleged lover of a powerful Socialist Party official is shown on trips to the Middle East.

It is always like this. “Let them eat rats…” It’s another double standard. You pay for it. Then you pay for it again. Then you eat Fido.

A year ago I reported just how bad things in Venezuela were getting. Bad, yes, but then just the tip of the iceberg.

Today I wrote a cautionary column for Freedom Prepper about the continuing slide of the South American nation. Please give it a read regardless of whether or not you know about or care about the crisis. Odds are you don’t (know) because of the near black-out by the American media.

Through the horrible lense of Venezuela we are witnessing the complete collapse of an entire society. This was brought about by many factors – chief among them Communism (Socialism). And it can all happen anywhere to any people – even Americans. Please learn and prepare.

I’ve written some shorts and posted some links about the crisis this year. Some few of these have proven extremely popular. If I have time, I would like to write out some fully timeline of the collapse with detailed analysis. (No promise on that).

HERE ARE BUT A FEW OF THE PROBLEMS CITIZENS ARE FACING IN THE STRICKEN NATION:

High unemployment;
No money;
Price and monetary inflation;
Food shortages;
Starvation – the average person has lost nearly 20 pounds already (some have died, more will);
People are eating rats and pets to survive;
The grocery stores are empty and closing;
Martial law;
Daily riots and ultraviolent crime;
Complete desperation;
Schools are closed;
Power is out;
Water is interrupted; and
On and on and on…

Even after I published that, Drudge reported things keep getting worse, more desperate:

Drudge Report.

What’s happening there is terrible. For us, potentially more terrible, is the specter that this could happen in the U.S. – or anywhere.

The media did rave over Venezuela just a few years ago. The former president made scathing, hilarious, and partially (mostly?) true remarks about G.W. Bush at the U.N. The media covered that. Then the former leader sent tankers of free home heating oil to New England during a cold winter – a gesture for America’s poor. That was in part a publicity stunt. The media picked up on it.

It is strange they are so uninterested now that the nation has descended into utter chaos. Small wonder. As I noted last year, Venezuela is was a statist’s paradise, home to so many thoughtful, progressive, socialist and communist programs and ideals. Now, it seems, the chickens have come home to roost. Now the people eat rats or starve while dodging bullets in the dark.

The same people who told you life in the South American paradise was so great, then, are the same people telling you America and the West need to adopt the same systems now. It’s not that they don’t learn – they do. They just do not care. You should.

Simon Bolivar, the father of Venezuela, was a fan of Thomas Jefferson and both the American and the French revolutions. His belief was that South American countries would benefit from republican government so long as there was a firm hand in the government. Looking around his lands, he decried what he called the “triple yoke of ignorance, tyranny, and vice”. Over the past two centuries he’s been proven right and wrong about his creations.

Modern Venezuela is a fantastic country plagued with less-than-fantastic governance. The firm hand Bolivar thought necessary has proven a curse of late (from Hugo Chavez to Nicolas Maduro). The country has also slowly slid off the American model (a little more than America itself has) and into the abyss of socialism.

The United States has, thanks to the industriousness of her people, resisted the perils of statism longer and better than most. That is rapidly changing in the 21st century. Still, some think that America was made great because of various socialistic experiments rather than in spite of them. All of the popular contenders for President are pro-government. Two push traditional liberal/socialist policies and one of those two (Bernie) is a hardliner. Anyone thinking of supporting Bernie, specifically, or the government in general should take a close look at what is unfolding in Venezuela.

Electricity, water, phone access, police services and food are in short supply as a result of decades of mismanagement of the economy. (All socialist intervention is mismanagement.) The global financial crisis is helping to accelerate the vulnerable nation’s decline. A seeming side benefit of the crisis – curtailing of government services on a grand scale – is an illusion. Martial law is being formulated, being partly enacted via two recent state of emergency decrees from Maduro. Such places are prone to military coops. Venezuela will survive but not before the people there see a good deal of needless suffering.

American preppers are taking note as the scenario in Venezuela might as well have come from the warnings of a prepping website. Some are pointing and saying, “see, we told you so.” It could all happen to the U.S.

Others would do well to pay attention too. Most will not. The majority of America citizens are not aware of any wolf at the door until he comes through and pounces on the bed. Even then, most would only ask him not to block the TV. Many elites don’t or won’t care as they have helped create these conditions in the first place. Academics share a large responsibility. A huge share of that blame goes to law professors. American law schools, demographically, do not resemble America – at least not traditional (former) America. According to a Rasmussen Media study 82% of law school professors are Democrats and less than half are Christians.

Based on my experience, I’d say 82% is a little light. Substituting “leftist” for “Democrat” would steer the number closer to 99%. As of last year there were six professors in the entire nation who identified as libertarian, anarchist, or adherents of Natural Law – and one died in January. They are statistical outliers.

The 82% or 99% (or virtual 100%) preach never-ending statism. Government, they say, is the end-all, be-all super solution to any and all problems. Given the “triumph” of their adored system in Venezuela, I’d suggest most of them move there. I know they won’t as they also have a fondness for things like electricity, telephones, and food. To think, they shun paradise. Odd.

El Libertador. Google.

**Note: two names in this non-cigar piece are titanic in the cigar world. “Bernie” ain’t one.

This week I protested the wholesale stupidity and cowardice of high school administrators in Massachusetts. Sadly, I now have bigger fish to fry. Fry them I shall. Last night I read about the utter demise of the Moritz College of Law at THE (they put emphasis on that word) Ohio State University.

You may recall my reflections on my own Legal “Education” – a process which bears little resemblance to the legal profession and none to the actual law. Law schools obsess over “positive law,” meaning statutes and court decisions (particularly the courts). There the Natural Law is a heresy.

In general law schools are not worth attending. They offer three years of state worship, communism and idiocy in exchange for entry into a failed and depressing career. THE Ohio State law school provides an excellent example.

Until about 40 or 50 years ago American universities were places where ideas were exchanged and cultivated. Law schools were supposedly high bastions of legal theory. I say supposedly because they also served as gatekeepers for the attorneys’ professional monopoly. Many of our best lawyers – Jefferson, Adams, Spooner, etc. – did not attend law schools – they “read” or self studied the law while apprenticed to a practicing attorney. I digress…

Elementary and high schools provided the base education. They made sure graduates could read, write, add and think for themselves. They also instilled a sense of history and scientific wonder and civic appreciation. Colleges were where serious scholars furthered their learning. Graduate schools were reserved for the elite.

Everything has changed now. Grade schools today serve as temporary detention centers where the inmates are indoctrinated as they await entry into either real prisons, menial employment (becoming rarer), or college admissions. The colleges serve as hosts for semi-professional football teams, sex and drug parties, and havens for the mentally defective, otherwise unemployable people known as “academics.”

Colleges, to include law schools, babysit a generation of uneducated, uninterested, uninteresting weaklings. The students demand “safe spaces.” They obsess over trivial or purely imaginary sufferings of which they have no understanding. They are unfamiliar with free thought or the value of a question. The staff and professors, still mourning the loss of the Soviet Union, cater to this legion of wusses in a desperate bid to keep their own irrelevant jobs. They cater and coddle so long as the little snowflakes are politically correct. The free-thinker, the libertarian, the conservative, the proudly Caucasian and the Christian are considered enemies within.

Madison Gesiotto found out about the deplorable intellectual dishonesty and spinelessness of the Moritz College of Law the hard way. The stunning beauty queen (Miss Ohio USA) came to Moritz for the stunning purpose of furthering her education. A pro-life Catholic and an accomplished writer, she penned a story about the devastating effects of the abortion industry on the black community.

This was a triple sin. First, Christians are supposed to be silent should they even be allowed inside the temples of government worship. Second, abortion is a sacrament to the cult and never to be questioned. Third, and a recent development, the black community is not to be mentioned outside of glowing support for the black lives matter bullshit and other small sects of discontent.

A reasonable, thoughtful person would glean from Madison’s article her concern for black children, all children, murdered by the Satanic likes of Planned Parenthood. The American abortion trade was born of racist Nazi origin. One would think liberals and the modern race hustlers would declare war on rather than fully defend such an institution. Those black lives must not matter.

For her sincere concern and honest scholarship Madison received scorn and even a threat. “The government cannot take action against you for your offensive and racist article. But your colleagues can,” wrote some idiot on Madison’s Facebook page. Madison does not know the fool who posted this statement (smart enough not to be criminal but dumb enough for national condemnation) though she knows or suspects he is a student at Moritz.

I wrote to Madison too, informing her that her online stalker is a wuss and not to be feared. I can almost guarantee he sleeps with a nightlight – the kind who flits about in skinny jeans – the kind just brave enough to threaten a girl on the internet – the kind that finds girls “icky.”

We can tell a good bit about our e-vilgilante by his choice of words. He starts: “The government cannot take action against you …” He really wishes it could. He’s a socialist or Nazi at heart. Anything he deems inappropriate should be a crime. The government should take action.

“…for your offensive and racist article.” Up is down and black is white to these itty bitty babys. An article condemning the murder of several hundred thousand black children each year is racist. Does the bedwetter want them killed? Why? Perhaps his cry is a transferring admission of a conscious he is personally afraid of. And “offensive.” Lefties love nothing more than to be offended by something. Rather than threaten Madison they should thank her for giving them something to cry about.

“But your colleagues can.” Can what? Take what action? Whatcha pansies gonna do? They’ve done it. They sent a Facebook message. They have now exhausted their powers. One would hope they are now safely back in the safe room being safe. You can’t help but feel sorry for them. It’s like coming across a terminally injured rabbit (except the bunny thinks a bit more and isn’t afraid of girl bunnies).

Using this dork as a benchmark Madison has no colleagues at Moritz. She must stand out like a tree among weeds. That last line – the threat – was a subtle warning that politically incorrect thought and expression will be punished by the legal community. The sentiment was echoed by the school itself as I will note shortly.

So what? Madison can’t be kicked out for free speech (though that would rid her of all this stupidity). Perhaps the Ohio Bar will frown on her application. Odds are the review personnel are not smart enough or industrious enough to connect these dots. Even if they did, they can be sued just like a law school. Maybe Madison won’t have the luxury of slaving away 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for years at a big “prestigious” law firm. The kind of firm where, if you survive, they come to you one day and tell you you’re not moving up so it’s time to move out. Horrors!

No, Madison’s future is secure. She was bright enough to make it on her own anyway. Now, as a victim of statist discrimination, she is a national sweetheart. People (most of us) still love real women and real Americans. She’s probably already had job offers. Maybe book offers. She will be on national television this weekend to explain her experience.

Now, let us look at the school itself. Feeling threatened Madison did what she was supposed to. She contacted the school and arranged a meeting with the dean. At the meeting she found herself confronted by three deans. They blew off her concerns for her safety and freedom and immediately attacked her and her article.

“This is a flawed article, it’s not a good legal piece, it’s not a good journalistic piece, either,” snorted her trio of over(tax)paid assailants. Like the Facebook bully these “academics” revealed a bit of their psyche and lack of mental horsepower. Their statement revealed a lack of understanding of journalism, legal or otherwise.

Dean Alan C. Michaels said he “takes any alleged threat against its students very seriously.” The thought bubble over his head continued, “except in this case. We’re going to abuse the victim here.”

Alan, who graduated from Harvard and Columbia, can be reached at (614) 292-0574. He’s a former prosecutor and criminal law specialist. Criminal. You know. Like threatening remarks criminal. Criminal negligence in refusing to investigate threats. Pitiful. If the roles were reversed, Madison would be in a holding cell somewhere. Pathetic.

Dean Kathy Seward Northern ((614) 292- 7750) alerted Madison she had reached out to the Moritz’s Black Law Students Association and found them not a threat to Madison. This was pointless as Northern knew the stalker was white and likely not a member of the BLSA. Her real intent was probably to fan emotions in the BLSA against Madison’s raaaaaaacism (defending black babies and all that). Her specialty is “environmental racism” whatever the hell that is.

The hidden agenda worked. The BLSA said they were OFFENDED by the racist article. Again, she made their day, showering them with glorious offense. Not mine. All this offense taking is beginning to offend me.

Northern told Madison (probably while looking down her nose) “that in her mind this article could be taken various ways and left questions to be answered.” Yeah, idiot, that’s what good journalism does. It provokes questions. Thoughts. Discussion.

The deans did recommend a “facilitated discussion” between Madison and her intellectual and emotional inferiors. She wisely refused. Such a session would have consisted of lowbrow freaks taunting the young woman (while maybe also flinging poo at her) while the deans looked on in smug approval.

A third dean was mentioned but remains unidentified. It’s as likely as not it was a homeless person pulled in off the street by Michaels and Northern. Hobos look and act much like law school deans. He obviously added nothing memorable to the conversation.

The Moritz website touts its faculty: “Brilliant scholars and devoted teachers, our professors are passionate about making lasting contributions in their fields of expertise and in the lives of their students.” I ponder their lasting contributions to Madison. Maybe they did teach her something – personal fortitude in the face of socialism.

I am Catholic, I am conservative, I am an American, I am a woman, I am a millennial, I am a law student and I am proud.

I am not afraid to voice my opinions and refuse to be stifled by the unwillingness of others to accept views, beliefs or behaviors different from their own.

Madison, Washington Times.

You. Go. Girl.

Concerned Women for America and other groups have come to her defense. Not that she needs it. She has single-handedly defeated the fascists of Moritz. She did it by merely standing up to them. They have no power over her and will fear her going forward. They also have nothing to teach her though this incident has given her an education of sorts.

Madison is beautiful, brave, talented and a winner. She can’t be alone in academia. If there remain even a few like her, then the institution is not completely lost.

Cigars are a hobby of mine. I have written about them before and before.

Today I am happy to report that we have crossed a new frontier in cigar legend: the monstrous JFR Lunatic by Casa Fernandez (formerly Tropical Tobacco). This is a TITANIC smoke – an 8 x 80(!) – and not for the faint of heart.

(For comparison I placed a Lunatic next to JFR’s already massive 770 and a “normal” sized smoke – an Ashton VSG robusto.)

(And, next to a book of matches.)

As the resident lunatic smoker of my home shop I was asked to review this beast. Russell kindly provided me with a free sample courtesy of Maritza of Fernandez.

I have smoked 80 ring-gauges before (such as the Asylum 6 x 80). I found them decent in flavor and consistency but a bit unwieldy. Damn near an inch and a half in width a standard 80 actually starts to hurt the jaw while smoking. It’s reminiscent of a visit to the dentist involving one of those devices which holds the mouth open. JFR has cured this by producing the Lunatic in a tapered or “pyramid” design. The cap end is about the size of a 60 RG. This makes the smoking process itself easier.

The taste is excellent – the same blend as ordinary JFRs. The cigar is well constructed and burns evenly. One distinct problem, though, is that the smoke does not hold it’s ash well. The ash produced is a clean, light gray color but after half an inch or so it but be tapped off in order to prevent an accident. With such a ridiculous girth the center of the ash is still active and could cause a burn if it fell off inadvertently.

Another problem (or benefit) of the Lunatic is the smoking time required. The smoke is immediately flavorful with no bitterness. It has a woody, earth Nicaraguan taste which is consistent. However, I estimate it would take at least three hours to finish this monster. Theoretically, it might take up to four hours. This is great for a fishing trip but might be overwhelming for average afternoon enjoyment. Again, I must warn that is not a stick for novices.

(Not a beginner cigar.)

In the end this may be too much of a good thing. I will likely stick with routine 6 x 60s and 7 x 70s for heavy flavor delivery. However, I did like the Lunatic immensely (pun…). I don’t have a rating system but I do like it. My description herein should suffice for you to make your own decision. I suspect this novelty will remain just that and only available for a short time or in limited quantity. For an estimated $10 it is really a bargain.

Of course, if you must have a GIGANTIC smoke look no further than Indigo’s Chief. At a foot and a half long it should last all day and then some. Good luck finding one. Better luck finishing one.

(As crazy a comparison as may be made…)

Whatever the size or flavor, remember,

(Yes, Rudyard, a good cigar is a smoke.)

For the skeptics and haters:

(The real lunatics are politicians and their enablers. Put that in your pipe and smoke it).